[Super Dad]

Here is yesterday's news article from MedBroadcast.

Kathleen Wynne says, "my heart goes out to people who have these very special and severe needs." Minister Wynne you just made me vomit. I don't want your cold dark hypocritical excuse of a human heart. I want my tax dollars going toward helping our kids!

*****

http://www.medbroadcast.com/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=15325

Families of autistic kids demanding Ont. eliminate wait list for treatment

May. 12, 2008

Provided by: The Canadian Press
Written by: Maria Babbage, THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO – The father of an autistic teenager who has camped out at the Ontario legislature for more than a week is vowing not to eat until the province agrees to eliminate the backlog of children waiting for a crucial but costly therapy.

Stefan Marinoiu, 49, who has been drinking nothing but water for eight days, is trying to put pressure on the province to deliver the treatment more quickly to autistic kids, including his 15-year-old son Simon.

"He can hurt all of us when he has those violent tantrums which, of course, come out of his frustrations not being able to communicate with us," said Marinoiu, who had to quit his job a few years ago to help care for his son.

"It's a pretty bad situation. I'm getting weaker, I'm getting older, and I cannot hold on (to) him anymore."

Marinoiu will be joined by other parents Tuesday to put pressure on the province to eliminate by November the wait list of 1,148 eligible autistic children who are still waiting to receive intensive behavioural intervention therapy, or IBI.

The group will also be asking the government to provide IBI treatment in schools no later than September 2009, as well as obtain guidelines and financial assistance from Ottawa for autism services.

But Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said she can't make those promises, although the province is working to make schools more accessible to autistic children.

"My heart goes out to people who have these very special and severe needs," she said.

"We will continue to work with the family to provide the resources in the school that this student needs."

Thousands of teachers and support workers are currently being trained to provide another kind of therapy, called applied behavioural analysis, in schools, Wynne added.

Some schools already have therapists to provide the more intensive IBI therapy, but not in regular classrooms because the one-on-one treatment works better in a separate space, she said.

The province has also boosted funding and almost tripled the number of children receiving IBI treatment to more than 1,400 as of March 31, said Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews. The list of children waiting to be assessed to see if they are eligible to receive IBI has also dropped to 363 from 1,027 four years ago.

Marinoiu said he's been unable to obtain services to help care for his son, who was dropped from the wait list after he surpassed the cut-off age of six.

The Liberals eliminated that cut-off threshold in 2005, but say a dramatic increase in the number of children with autism has put additional pressure on the system, causing wait lists to grow.

The number of children waiting for IBI has jumped to 1,148 at the end of March from 89 in early 2004. Critics point to the rising numbers as proof the province isn't serious about giving autistic children the help they need.

Marinoiu's hunger strike is just one indication of the distress parents are feeling, said Conservative critic Elizabeth Witmer.

"It's another broken promise," she said. "The premier promised one thing. It's simply not happening."

The long waits have forced many parents to drain their savings and go into debt to pay for the therapy, said NDP critic Andrea Horwath.

"Here we are, years down the road, and we still have the same situation," she said.

"Parents are still going bankrupt. Parents are still extremely frustrated with the lack of available services. Parents still are fearful of trying to transition their kids into school, knowing darn well that the services aren't available in the school either."

Without help, Marinoiu said his family may be forced to put his son in an institution – something he refuses to do.

"I don't have a life anymore and I've got nothing to lose," he said. "So I'm going to stay here until the government is going to get it."

A number of families of autistic children are still waiting to see if they will be able sue the Ontario government and seven school boards for damages over funding for specialized treatment.

The group argues the province discriminates against autistic children because they can't always get both their therapy and education within the public school setting.

The Ontario Court of Appeal, which heard the case in February, is expected to release its decision this summer.

An estimated 50,000 children and 150,000 adults in Canada have autism.

[Super Dad]

Here is a short news article from MedBroadcast…

*****
http://www.medbroadcast.com/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=15309

Father of autistic son demanding elimination of wait list for treatment

May. 12, 2008

Provided by: The Canadian Press
Written by: THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO – A Toronto man who has been on a hunger strike for over a week is demanding the province eliminate the backlog of autistic children waiting for a crucial but costly therapy.

Stefan Marinoiu, 49, will call on the government Tuesday to move more quickly to provide treatment for children with autism, including his teenage son.

He wants to see the wait list of more than 1,100 autistic children who are eligible to receive intensive behavioural intervention therapy, or IBI, eliminated by November.

Marinoiu also wants the province to commit to providing the treatment in schools no later than September next year.

Education Minister Kathleen Wynne says thousands of people have already been trained to provide another kind of therapy, called applied behavioural analysis, in schools.

She says some schools have therapists to provide the more intensive IBI therapy, but not in regular classrooms.

[Super Dad]

Hi Debra,

The ASAT web site has a nice article on frauds like Dawson, titled "A Mother's Perspective" by a member of FEAT Wisconsin:

http://www.asatonline.org/forum/articles/mother.htm

Here is an excerpt:

—
Michelle Dawson's voice is one of the more strident of this movement. I do not know her, nor where she is from, nor what her background is. Frankly, after reading her essay, I have no desire to engage in any debate with anyone of such extreme and ideological views. However, for the sake of my children and other children who have autism, I feel it is important to address the assertions she has chosen to broadcast on the Internet about "autistics." She herself claims to be autistic, but it is not clear who, if anyone, diagnosed her with the condition; she never explains the circumstances of her diagnosis. Is she autistic? She appears to be educated and highly verbal (although her endless, repetitive arguments do cry out for some serious editing). Moreover, while her continuous bashing of ABA and its practitioners is full of inconsistencies, leaps of logic, and personal attacks, one obvious reality that emerges from her meanderings is that she is not at all like my children, or any of the children I know who have autism.
—

It's worth your time to read the entire article. The only thing that I do not agree with is the author's assumption that Dawson is motivated by ideology. Dawson is an opportunist who has found a way to get both money and attention by exploiting public ignorance.

Tony

[Super Dad]

The "Life on the Brink" program is already on CTV's W5 web site:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080509/WFIVE_on_brink_080510/20080510

Here is the previous W5 story:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080320/WFIVE_CarlysStory_080320/20080322

If you've missed tonight's broadcast, you can watch it via the web site.

As opposed to the usual half-minute, our story was heard by thousands of people for a good half-hour. I am extremely grateful to Jean for making it possible.

Tony

[Super Dad]

Here are excerpts from another article.

The school was willing to let the kid with cerebral palsy attend classes, but they would not allow his walker on the school bus. Why does this sound so familiar?

I wonder if the same school is willing to let a kid with autism attend classes, but only if his therapist doesn't come along?

Tony

———-

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/05/02/fhealth-specialneeds.html

Attitudes towards children with disabilities need improvement, parents say

***
It should have been an exciting milestone in the life of her child. Instead, due to a simple piece of hardware, the first day of kindergarten was for Kim Bell the beginning of a series of frustrating battles with regulators and red tape.

Ian Bell's entrance into kindergarten in Winnipeg ran into a glitch when school administrators didn't want his walker brought on the school bus, saying it was dangerous.

Ian has cerebral palsy.

***
The lack of adequate schooling, the poverty, the exclusion faced by these families is probably news to much of the general public, says Zuhy Sayeed, past-president of the Canadian Association for Community Living, an organization that advocates for people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

"People are under the assumption that people with disabilities are taken care of," she said. "Most Canadians see the ramps. They see agencies for people with disabilities. So they really wonder what our issue is."

***
"Parents [of children with special needs] have to dedicate their lives to staying on top of this," says Angela Scotton of Duncan, B.C., whose 10-year-old twins Megan and Brenna have autism spectrum disorders and sometimes behave in ways that others consider inappropriate. "It's a full-time job, if you want your child to succeed and have the opportunities that they're capable of."

***
"Just bringing your child into a mainstream classroom does not mean integration," points out Jean Ju, a psychologist at the Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre. If no other supports are in place, children can't participate, Ju says.

"We've seen kids who are integrated but very lonely — nobody plays with the child."

***
Too often, though, children with disabilities deal with rejection.

"It's painful," Scotton admits, adding she spends much of her time simply teaching others about what it means to have autism. "Most of these kids have tremendous potential — if it's nurtured and supported."

***
Constant advocacy can be exhausting, but there's strength in numbers, notes Scotton. Like others before her, she's banding together with other parents to share the lobbying load.

"We're able to divide tasks, rather than trying to take on the world by ourselves," she says.

They've dubbed their group the Cowichan Valley Autism Society, and they're seeking better school support, and more provincial funding for families. They also hope one day to build a resource centre where other parents of kids with disabilities can find information and guidance.

But the biggest change these families want to see is public attitude, and to that end these families are also working to increase awareness and media exposure.

"I think when people have a better grasp of the disability, they can then pursue ways to make it work," says Scotton.

[Super Dad]

The researcher is merely saying that the genes contributing to autism also contributes to other disorders. It doesn't bother me that much to be told that my genes are a factor in my son's disability. My genetic makeup is nothing that I can control to any degree, and therefore I will never blame myself.

I do, however, agree there is definitely a chicken-and-egg issue here. I suspect that some of the following items have had an impact on my mental health:

– watching my son disappear into his own world;
– being told my son has a lifelong disability;
– trying to get a family in denial to start cooperating;
– losing my entire emotional/spiritual support network because my family feels ashamed and demands secrecy;
– withdrawing from society because no one knows how I feel;
– inventing one lie after another to explain why I look depressed;
– being frustrated by counsellors who know nothing about autism;
– competing against snake oil salesmen for my family's attention;
– getting confused by extremely skilled liars;
– listening to an SLP tell my wife that my son is delayed because of a lack of attention from daddy;
– being turned away from all the recommended consultants;
– being scammed by treatment providers run by government groupies;
– trying to make sense of instructions from under-qualified consultants;
– suddenly losing consultants due to their divorce or other problems;
– worrying about when another therapist is going to quit;
– firing a therapist for letting my son eat dirty playdoh;
– watching my son hurt himself;
– watching my son get kicked out of Sunday school;
– handling meltdowns in public places;
– fending off accusations by strangers during meltdowns;
– being told at the last minute that the school won't let my consultant into the classroom;
– not having enough money to sue the school;
– searching desperately for a school that will cooperate;
– being denied a public education just because people want to stake turf;
– being shunned by parents of my son's classmates;
– living with only one income because my son needs my wife at home;
– wondering how to pay for the next workshop;
– being called an ineffective worker when I'm too focussed on my son;
– staying with abusive employers because I need money for therapy;
– selling everything I own;
– seeing the Auton families lose in court;
– losing all pride in being Canadian;
– watching my wife collapse;
– and the most important of all: watching my beloved child cry and suffer, day in and day out.

You may notice from one of the items above that people don't always blame the mother. In my case, the problem is a "refrigerator father."

Tony

[Super Dad]

To those of you who know me and think I have a screw loose, now you know why:

*****
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/05/05/parents-autism.html

Parents of autistic children twice as likely to have serious mental disorder

Last Updated: Monday, May 5, 2008 | 3:42 PM ET
CBC News

Parents of autistic children are twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a serious mental disorder than the parents of children without the disorder, suggests new research.

A review of Swedish birth and hospital records by U.S. researchers reveals that if a child is autistic, their parents are twice as likely as other parents to have been hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder like schizophrenia.

Depression and personality disorders were more common among mothers of autistic children (1.2 times more likely) than among mothers of non-autistic kids, suggests the study, published in Monday's issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The study looked at 1,237 children born between 1977 and 2003 who were diagnosed with autism before age 10. To be deemed autistic, the children all had to have received a diagnosis of autism disorder, Asperger Syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder.

Asperger Syndrome is a variant of autism in which individuals often exhibit extensive knowledge of a specific interest. Symptoms of pervasive developmental disorder include impairments in social interaction, imaginative activity, verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and a limited number of interests and activities that tend to be repetitive.

Seventy-seven per cent of the children involved in the study were boys.

"These results support those of smaller studies that indicated an increase in psychiatric conditions among parents of children with autism, specifically schizophrenia, neurotic disorders and depression," write the authors. "Identifying families with a propensity for rare psychiatric conditions may help uncover rare genes that contribute to the susceptibility of both disorders."

Other mental conditions in parents evaluated in the study were affective disorders, neurotic and personality disoders, and non-psychotic disorders, alcohol and drug addiction, and abuse.

The autistic children were compared to 30,925 kids who were matched in terms of gender, age and hospital.

[Super Dad]

Hi Everyone,

Has any of you put an autistic child into Karate class? Would you please share your experience?

Tony

tony(dot)tamer(at)yahoo(dot)com

[Super Dad]

Does anyone know a therapist who can teach Karate?

Tony

tony(dot)tamer(at)yahoo(dot)com

[Super Dad]

Classroom Aide Position

with training from a BCBA with a PhD in ABA (now try to say it quickly)

We need a therapist to go to a private school with the cutest 6-year-old in the world.

Training will be provided by Dr. Sara White, a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst with a PhD in Clinical Psychology specializing in ABA.

Frequent overlaps will also be provided by Bernadette Marzo, a first-class professional with 10 years of experience in this field.

Please send:
1. your resume and references;
2. your hourly rate;
3. a list of available weekly time slots (now, in the summer, and in the fall);
4. the number of months you can commit to this job.

The school is near Boundary and Grandview. Our home is near Oakridge Mall.

Email: leomom2004@yahoo.ca

[Author]

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